Fan Expo Highlights: Day 3

August 25, 2012

Kiva

fan expo

Not even all caps, bold font and italics can begin to capture the insanity that is a Saturday at Fan Expo. With back-to-back stellar panels, much of the day is spent negotiating throughways between a crush of bodies in Cosplay costumes. Though each event is worth a full post (and when it comes to Alan Tudyk, a full gallery) unto itself, here are a few highlights from what we checked out today.

The Space booth became a minor site of pandemonium when the stars of Criminal Minds, Matthew Gray Gubler and A.J. Cook, stopped by for an interview. Earlier, fans were so excited that when descended on the pair during an autograph session several police officers were called to keep the crowd at bay. After being escorted to our booth, they sat down with producer Mark Asquith, answering questions and taking time to chat with fans. And then, just like they had appeared, they were gone, whisked off into the subterranean labyrinth that is the Metro Convention Centre.

Next up we popped into Kate Mulgrew Q&A—because, obviously—where the Star Trek: Voyager star commanded the stage like it was the bridge itself. She discussed her legacy as the first (and only) female captain on the show (for the first month of filming, she said nameless network suits would come and watch her on set…no pressure!) and her life in New York (“I live a happy life,” she said serenely). But Mulgrew really impressed the audience with her uncanny Sir Patrick Stewart impression. It was like he was there and had never cancelled!

After running up several escalators we made it to the Alan Tudyk Q&A. His first time at Fan Expo, the star of the cult TV show Firefly and on-going Joss Whedon favourite, Tudyk set the tone as soon as he mentioned he was single. The packed room hooted in approval and many fan questions began with a profession of love. Signing what he called “some shit” for each person who posed a query—drafts of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter scripts and Dollhouse playing cards—Tudyk seemed to be having as much fun as everyone in the room.

In yet another packed hall (noticing a theme here?), horror magazine Rue Morgue hosted a panel that paired once-vampire lovers James Marsters and Juliet Landau. Better known as Spike and Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the actors compared writing tips (both work with Dark Horse on the on-going Buffy comics) and talked about their love of the stage, which help them build the characters. Things got confusing when Marsters noted that creator Joss Whedon really wanted them to be the “Sid and Nancy of the vampire set”, though Marsters said he played more of a Johnny Rotten. Landau interjected to clarify that if anything she was Sid, to which Marsters pointed out he was really Nancy, since he “had the blond hair.” Hope you can keep all your 1980s punk references straight.

Our last panel of the day was hosted by InnerSPACE’s Teddy Wilson and Cynthia Loyst, featuring Jon Bernthal and Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead. Coming out first and solo was Bernthal, who is currently working on a project with Martin Scorsese (which explains his “stupid beard”). He joked about taking a role he knew was short lived—having read the graphic novels, Bernthal remarked his reaction to his character’s fate was: “Holy guacamole—so much for source material!” He was interrupted, however, as Reedus charged in from the back of the room, announcing Lori’s baby was his character’s, Daryl, like it was an episode of Maury. Jumping on stage, Reedus joined the panel, taking questions and showing off his Larry David shirt (paired with a sweater Bernthal claims he stole from him…).

There it is, day three—and that’s merely the proverbial tip of the convention’s iceberg! We’re back again tomorrow so be sure to check in.

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